Hi,I've recently bought a used Admiral washer and gas dryer set. I believe the dryer initially heated up well, however, I later found out that the Automatic settings would not work correctly (it gets stuck), but the minute timed settings work. The result was that it got stuck on the Auto setting and the dryer ran on for 2-3 hours, excessively drying my clothes, and possibly overheating some components of the dryer. On my 2nd use, I noticed that the dryer would no longer heat up. After doing some research, I figure the coils may be bad, so I bought a new set with a 2-prong and a 3-prong coil. After swapping them out, I found out that there was still no heat. I opened it back up and checked the igniter; it seems to glow up just fine, however, there is no flame or burning gas. The igniter would glow for 10sec, then turn off, repeating this cycle a few times per minute. I'd appreciate it if some knowledgeable member might be able to point me to the right direction.

Sounds to me like your control thermostat (mounted on the blower housing) I faulty.This Amana gas and electric dryer manual will help you check components:Amana dryer service manual

« Last Edit: September 22, 2010, 11:29:15 AM by JWWebster »

Logged

May the hinges of our friendship never grow rusty.

About the icons: The beer is tip link, if a tech saves ya some money buy em a 6 pack. The small green square=personal message. The green dot is a link to my web page on appliance repair and other general BS I love to post. The letter sends me email.I love fan letters! LOL

JW,Thank you for your input. The service manual was very helpful as it shows the exact model of my dryer. This is my first time trying to service a dryer. Anyway, may I ask, what role does the limit (or control) thermostat play in a gas dryer, or more specifically, how is it stopping my dryer from heating up? Did my previous overheating of the dryer damaged the thermostat? Finally, I assume the thermostat has nothing to do with my dryer getting stuck under AUTO setting, is that correct? Thanks again!

The control is mounted on the blower housing. It judges the temp coming from the drum area. When it gets to 160 max for cotton it shuts down till around 105 then it kicks back in again. Some have 4 wires. 2 big wires carry the load and 2 smaller wires serve to warm up a tiny heater in the control. This tiny heater makes the control shut down faster for delicate and permanent press. Those tend to go haywire from time to time. This thermostat does play apart in the non sensing type dryer with auto features screwing up it's routine.

About the icons: The beer is tip link, if a tech saves ya some money buy em a 6 pack. The small green square=personal message. The green dot is a link to my web page on appliance repair and other general BS I love to post. The letter sends me email.I love fan letters! LOL

Thanks for the information JW. I will start searching for the control thermostat as I've found the part number (it's a 2 terminal thermostat). Since I've replaced the Valve Coils and that didn't help, I hope this will be the culprit. From what you've described, it appears my thermostat is either shutting down the heating before it could flame up, or maybe dead-open and not even sensing anything. I will open the dryer up again this weekend to measure the resistance between the thermostat's 2 terminals, as instructed in the service manual. Will post updates to help others w/ similar problems.

Could be one of them safety's is getting age on them and they are shutting down. Run it and and quickly check each component. After it dies. You know the ignitor is good and the flame sensor is good and the coils are new. So it is gonna either be a limit or a control stat. If could be the 250 degree limit that mounts on the burner chamber. I would definitly check that one after it dies. Remove the wires from each component. This does 2 things. Keeps from getting a false reading and sometimes the stat just falls apart.

« Last Edit: September 23, 2010, 12:10:53 PM by JWWebster »

Logged

May the hinges of our friendship never grow rusty.

About the icons: The beer is tip link, if a tech saves ya some money buy em a 6 pack. The small green square=personal message. The green dot is a link to my web page on appliance repair and other general BS I love to post. The letter sends me email.I love fan letters! LOL

Natural or LP gas? I have seen burner heads fall apart on LP. This would in fact give the same symptom. Spider web in burner is another. You would in fact smell gas on the outlet of your duct when it runs on both problems.

I'm using natural gas. I believe the dryer worked okay before that one time it got stuck running for 3hrs (I've just recently bought it used, though in very good condition). I'm currently back at my parents house for the weekend and once I return, will open the dryer back up to check the continuity of the thermostat. If it doesn't test right, then I'll order a new one (only about $12 on ebay). Honestly, it is a fairly simple setup and I'm not sure what else could be the problem. I guess the final step would be just to replace the whole gas valve assembly if I hit a dead-end by next week.

I do not think you are going to have to do that. Remember do the tests directly after the appliance fails.

Logged

May the hinges of our friendship never grow rusty.

About the icons: The beer is tip link, if a tech saves ya some money buy em a 6 pack. The small green square=personal message. The green dot is a link to my web page on appliance repair and other general BS I love to post. The letter sends me email.I love fan letters! LOL